Best PC game you've ever played

[leicamaster]

I am currently moving and I found my old PC but no games and I wanted to get some games to go along with it. I wanted to know what are your favorite pc games. Mine are Sam and Max,Grim Fandango,Day of the tentacle,Carmen Sandiego series,LSL series, The Black Cauldron, Spy Fox, and the Pajama Sam series

[nebrazca78]

I always liked the version of Tetris in the Windows Entertainment pack.

[strassy]

i have definitely spent the most time with Heroes of Might and Magic 2 and various incarnations of Baseball Mogul.

honorable mentions:
TIE Fighter
Warcraft 2
Superhero League of Hoboken
Maniac Mansion/Day of the Tentacle
Worlds of Xeen

[Berserker]

In Theory: Nethack
In Practice: Oblivion

[CosmicMonkey]

I don't play PC games generally, and never have. However, many years ago I was stuck for a couple of months with nothing but a Laptop. It came with about 8 free games and I ended up up really getting into Total Annihilation. It's like C&C, but with big robots. Big robots with lots of guns = win. Smashing.

[diskoboy]

My all time favorite would have to be Activision's 1998 remake of Battlezone.

[Trevelyan]

top 6 off the top of my head in no particular order

Wolfenstein 3d
Dungeon Keeper
Half Life
Thief 2
Grim fandango
Jagged Alliance 2

[Sudo]

Asheron's Call, because it managed to eat years of my life like no other game has.

[Diatribal Deity]

Along the lines of what you've previously played I'd say you might be interested in:

- The Longest Journey
- Rex Nebular
- The Space Quest Series
- Les Manley in Search for the King
- Willy Beamish
- Loom
- Full Throttle
- Gabriel Knight (preferably The Beast Within)
- Freddy Pharkus
- Broken Sword 1+2
- Beneath a Steel Sky
- The Big Red Adventure
- Tex Murphy Series (including Mean Streets)

[InsaneDavid]

Descent.

The first, original Descent. Pisses me off where the series has gone in more recent years with Freespace. Back then nothing was faster, had better atmosphere, demonstrated what 3D gaming was really supposed to be all about or was more fun.

Other favorites:

The 7th Guest
The Last Express
Loom
Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
Wolfenstein 3D (just now playing the superb 3DO version)
One Must Fall 2097
Epic Pinball (last released version, if you can get it to run)
Hoyle Volume 1 (a special treat if you liked the characters from Sierra adventure games)
Mean Streets (really need to play some of the other Tex Murphy games, as has been said above)
Putt Putt Saves the Zoo (a shining example of a super entertaining kids adventure game)

[Jackattack]

Not sure how amazing some of these games are, but I'm glad to see that others love them as much as I do.

- The Longest Journey
- Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
- The 7th Guest
- The Space Quest Series

[ScourDX]

- Doom collection
- Duke Nukem 3d Plutonium Pack
- Blood
- Elder Scroll 2: Daggerfall
- Crusader No Remorse
- Transport Tycoon Deluxe
- Starwars: Darkforce
- Alone in the Dark series
- Age of Empire
- Warcraft 1 & 2
- Monkey Island series
- Civilization series
- Command & Conquer series
- Descent: Freespace 2
- System shock 1 & 2
- Fallout series
- Leisure Suit Larry Collection
- Wing Commander series

[RetroYoungen]

You Don't Know Jack! and Chex Quest FTW! And that's ALL I have to say about that!

[norkusa]

Typing Of The Dead

I rarely play PC games but I can't get enough of TOTD. Play it at least once a month. And it's educational too!

[tfrank]

i always liked blade runner on the pc

[blissfulnoise]

Play length? Civilization II or IV.

Best game? Star Control II.

Though much props to Ultima Online, Asheron's Call, and World of Warcraft.

[FrakAttack]

Doom
Fallout
X-COM
AvP
Duck Doom Deluxe (it's free) http://duckdoom.dayjo.org/ (http://duckdoom.dayjo.org/)
Grid Wars 2 (also free) http://www.download.com/Grid-Wars/3000-2099_4-10532891.html (http://www.download.com/Grid-Wars/3000-2099_4-10532891.html)

[briskbc]

I don't play a lot of PC games but I liked:

Doom 1 & 2
Star Wars Dark Forces
Roller Coaster Tycoon
Diablo 1 & 2
Warcraft 2
star Craft

[skaar]

Sopwith II

[Sudo]

Play length? Civilization II or IV.

Best game? Star Control II.

Though much props to Ultima Online, Asheron's Call, and World of Warcraft.

Out of curiosity, which server did you play on in Asheron's Call?

[Bojay1997]

Let's see Tropico, Age of Empires III, Civilization I-IV, Rise of Nations, so many other RTS or God simulations. The PC is an amazing gaming platform and does things I never want to do with my consoles.

[c2000]

Epic Pinball (last released version, if you can get it to run)


Someone needs to release this on XBLA :(

Others;
*All BUILD-engine games (Duke Nukem 3D, Shadow Warrior, Redneck Rampage and in particular Blood)
*Unreal Tournament (the first one)
*Ultima Online

[RadiantSvgun]

Full Throttle
Sam and Max

But the original Fallout > all

I bought it in middle school and still play it to this day. Fallout 2 is good too, but you gotta download those patches.

[James8BitStar]

The PC especially the MS-DOS and Win95/98 eras has so many good games that its impossible to choose just one.

[calthaer]

Deus Ex is my favorite PC game of all time, I'm fairly certain.

System Shock 2 is a close second.

X-Com
Thief / Thief II
Planescape: Torment
Starcraft
Unreal
the original Sim City
Age of Empires 2
Freedom Force
Fallout
Space Rangers 2

That about rounds out the list as honorable mentions. There are loads of other excellent and quality games that could certainly make it on the list.

[Steve W]

Marathon 2: Durandal. Might have had something to do with the fact that it's one of the first games I ever bought, on the same night as my first Macintosh. Bought Marathon 2 and a game called Havoc, which was a Windows/Mac cross-platform vehicle combat game. That one's faded into the mists of time, but Marathon 2 is still fondly remembered.

Carmageddon was also one of my favorites. I got the demo for it and downloaded a patch to stop the 5 minute demo timeclock, so I was able to explore the whole level and see how unfinished it was. When the Mac version finally got a publisher in the US, I downloaded heaps of patches and mods for it. That game's one of the reasons I went out and bought a Voodoo card, so I didn't have to run it in software rendering mode.

Another game I've always loved was Future Cop: LAPD. The game had a regular mission mode, and then there was it's great multiplayer tactical mode, where you and the computer/second player would secure gun turrets across the map, send out tanks to destroy the enemy's base, and helicopters to defend your own. Many, many hours spent on that one.

[p_b]

Baldur's Gate I / II and Planescape Torment are wonderful RPGs...

[blissfulnoise]

Out of curiosity, which server did you play on in Asheron's Call?

It was a long time ago but I think the server was Wintersthaw or something like that; if I remember right they were all named after seasons. I was working for the IT department of the company that packaged the game so I was able to get in before the official launch. I played pretty regularly for about a year. I wasn't a major part of any particular allegiances so I'm nearly certain that no one would remember me playing beyond my friends.

[Xizer]

This is pretty difficult to say, because the PC is a platform that has mastered the "unlimited" game. Maybe... SimCity 4. Best city simulator ever.

[Sudo]

It was a long time ago but I think the server was Wintersthaw or something like that; if I remember right they were all named after seasons. I was working for the IT department of the company that packaged the game so I was able to get in before the official launch. I played pretty regularly for about a year. I wasn't a major part of any particular allegiances so I'm nearly certain that no one would remember me playing beyond my friends.

Ah. I played on Morningthaw constantly from July of 2000 till sometime in 2004 and was the highest level on the server until I quit. After that, I played off and on a bit but it's been probably a year and a half since I last logged on.

[DefaultGen]

.....

[jupitersj]

EverQuest ... 9 years and 13? expansions later I finally gave up the crack @_@

[zemmix]

For me I have always preferred the building genre and turn based strategy. Can't really say there is only one best though if I had to choose it would go to Civ.

-Master of Orion I-III
-Civilization
-Rollercoaster Tycoon (NOT III!)
-Simcity
-Empire II
-Warcraft and starcraft
-Tie Fighter, X-Wing series
-Star Wars Dark Forces
-Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe
-Heroes of Might and Magic
-Red Alert and Command and Conquer
-World of Warcraft

I'm sure I'm forgetting a bunch also.

[tom]

The Fool's Errand

[oesiii]

Doom
Half Life 2
Age of Empires

[ShinobiMan]

Never was much of a PC Gamer, but I did absolutely LOVE one game:

Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis

OH YEAH!!! The perfect Indiana Jones adventure... this helped tide over the 19 year wait between films. LOL

[108Stars]

Deus Ex.

[-hellvin-]

Wow...this is a really hard to answer question. I was mainly a pc gamer for as long as I've been alive and listing all my favorites could probably make a small novel.

Probably my fondest experience ever was:

Betrayal At Krondor

I'm really sad to see this game unmentioned =*(. Hasn't aged well at all I'm sure, but it's a very different type of rpg experience then you've probably seen. The game world was incredibly huge back in the day, the battles were fun and the music was amazing. The part of the game that shines through has to be the story of course. The character's were excellent and very memorable and well written. Doesn't really come as much of a surprise coming from the world of Raymond Feists fantasy novels based on Krondor. While it has the core of any great RPG, the skill advancement and combat even was quite odd compared to what you see nowadays. Check it out ;D.

[thetoxicone]

ski free - thats all that needs to be said

[James8BitStar]

Umm... did anyone even mention Sierra's adventure games?

It's still impossible to choose a "best," but Sierra Adventures must surely rank high up on the list. Especially:

-Quest for Glory 1-4
-Space Quest 1-6
-Police Quest 1-4
-King's Quest 1-7

[DragonmasterAlex]

I rarely play at the PC, except maybe for these games:
Full Throttle
Diablo I & II
Sin City series

[esquire]

i have definitely spent the most time with Heroes of Might and Magic 2 and various incarnations of Baseball Mogul.


So close to mine. I'd say Heroes of Might & Magic III and APBA Baseball. Also Carmegeddon 1 and 2.

Honorable Mention:
Blood & Blood II - Gotta love that aerosol canister to light 'em on fire
Marathon 2: Durandel
Red Baron
X-Wing versus Tie Fighter

I'd also like to throw in a nomination for a Mac game, called "Peg Leg". It's an awesome shooter/shmup that's a cross between Centipede and Asteroids - you can move about the whole screen like Asteroids but you only face up like Centipede. Each enemy has different traits. you pick up rings for power ups or extra lifes if I recall. There was a sequel, "Peg Leg 2". I am thinking about picking up an old Mac just so I can play them again.

[consolecrusader]

I would have to go with Half Life, they revolutionized the FPS for sure. God who can forget old school TF or DM...then that damned CS came in and ruined it all.

[Dark_Sol]

Baldur's Gate. Played it back in 199x with a 16 megs of ram.

[jb143]

For me the original Warcraft games were probally the best. It was the very first demo game I downloaded and I was instantly hooked.

And for a fun "flight sim" I really like Crimson Skies as well.

[GnawRadar]

Diablo II and Diablo II: Lord of Destruction are my favorite.

[BydoEmpire]

Civilization. No game has ever made me lose track of time as much as Civ. I lost days at a time to it. Just brilliant in every way.

[bust3dstr8]

That's an easy one for me......StarCraft.

[Cornelius]

Betrayal At Krondor

I'm really sad to see this game unmentioned =*(. Hasn't aged well at all I'm sure, but it's a very different type of rpg experience then you've probably seen. The game world was incredibly huge back in the day, the battles were fun and the music was amazing. The part of the game that shines through has to be the story of course. The character's were excellent and very memorable and well written. Doesn't really come as much of a surprise coming from the world of Raymond Feists fantasy novels based on Krondor. While it has the core of any great RPG, the skill advancement and combat even was quite odd compared to what you see nowadays. Check it out ;D.
I only played the beginning of this game, but I feel like I've played the whole thing because back when I played some p&p D&D, someone converted the game into a campaign in which I had one of my most memorable characters: a ranger that started out a goody goody and ended up with a cursed sword of total kick-ass (that was in the game) and some ancient dragon skin plate with a helmet (very un-ranger like).

Anyway, best game for me would have to be Diablo II. Runners up: Baldur's Gate, Grim Fandango, Planescape Torment, Fallout, Masters of Orion II, Heroes Quest, Star Control II, Paratrooper, and the list could just keep going and going. Unlike most people here I've actually played a lot more on the PC over the years than consoles.

[suppafly]

The best PC game I ever played was doom 1. It was so amazing back in 1993 and its still fun

Other great, great PC games are:

- Half Life 1
- Tie Fighter
- Bioshock

[James8BitStar]

Hey, speaking of Macs, are current Mac OSes backwards-compatible with older Mac games? (And if not, is there a DOSbox-like program that allows the playing of older Mac games)?

[Night Driver]

If you're including Macs,

Marathon
Marathon 2
Marathon Infinity

[Retsudo]

Delta Force
Age of Empires 2
Doom Collection

[oesiii]

Hey, speaking of Macs, are current Mac OSes backwards-compatible with older Mac games? (And if not, is there a DOSbox-like program that allows the playing of older Mac games)?

No, Macs that were released since the Intel switchover (~2 years) do not run older games or apps. And the current versions of OS X do not include a Classic mode that was used to emulate the older operating systems on the early versions of X.

But there is a DOSbox-like program called Sheepshaver that does run the old PowerPC apps that worked with OS 7 - OS 9.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SheepShaver

My favorite Mac games from way back were Glider, Dark Castle, and Risk!

[Ed Oscuro]

In Theory: Nethack
In Practice: Oblivion
Haha, so true.

Loved Morrowind much more than Oblivion though.

[Andred]

Counterstrike 1.3.... if you could find a server with good admins who boot cheaters and morons.

And I'm surprised more people haven't given a nod to Star Control II. The vastness of that game was (to my knowledge) unparalleled at the time. You could explore hundreds of stars and "land" on each one to search for mineral deposits. And not only could you pimp out your ship with huge fuel tanks for exploration or awesome weapons for "massive damage" but you could build an entire fleet of ships with help from your allies. The multiplayer was loads of fun and really customizable. It's definitely in my top 5 games of all time.

[Cornelius]

And I'm surprised more people haven't given a nod to Star Control II. The vastness of that game was (to my knowledge) unparalleled at the time. You could explore hundreds of stars and "land" on each one to search for mineral deposits. And not only could you pimp out your ship with huge fuel tanks for exploration or awesome weapons for "massive damage" but you could build an entire fleet of ships with help from your allies. The multiplayer was loads of fun and really customizable. It's definitely in my top 5 games of all time.

I agree completely. And to be a bit picky, you could exploer 100s of star systems, and land on several planets for each one. It is funny you mention the multiplayer. The mode was called 'Melee' and at the time I thought that was only a name, I didn't know it was a word with a definition. Since it isn't all that common of a word, it was odd when I learned it quite a bit later. Ah, fun facts!

[splex]

Well, there are some

Half-Life 1 and 2
These two are probably the best purely FPS oriented games. Everything just is done right here.

Deus Ex
System Shock 2
In the first person RPG field these two are a must. Great games. Deus Ex: Invisible War was quite good too, but I kinda hated it all the time while I was playing it due to the restrictions it has compared to its predecessor. But I still couldn't stop so you could say the magic was there despite the lackings.

BattleZone 1 and 2
Well, personally I like the first one better (it's more fun to blast soviets than some obscure aliens), but the multiplayer in BZ2 is very much fun with friends.

Nethack
ADOM
These two games... They offer so much freedom and depth it is almost overwhelming. They offer hours and hours of different emotions even when their plot isn't that great - but who needs a plot when you can make one by yourself? This is the closest thing to roleplaying video games can get.

Broken Sword
Love the plot with templars and stuff. Very well written.

[sidnotcrazy]

Mine would have to be in the strategy genre:

Civilization 1&2
X-Com series
Command and Conquer series
Star Control II
and finally Dune II